Strike is off for BA but negotiations continue over Virgin walkout

The bitter British Airways cabin crew dispute finally came to an end today after staff accepted a peace deal to end 18 months of conflict.

Unite said its members voted 92 per cent in favour of what it described as an 'honourable settlement', with 8 per cent against in a turnout of 72 per cent.

Just under 10,000 cabin crew were balloted by Unite, which announced that the dispute - one of the longest in recent history - was formally over.

However, tens of thousands of families still face having their holidays ruined because Virgin Atlantic pilots have so far refused to back down from a walkout.

Deal accepted: British Airways' staff have been advised by their union Unite to accept a hard-won deal after 18 months of negotiation

Chaos: The threat of summer holiday havoc still looms for Virgin passengers with pilots planning to name strike dates

Strikes by Virgin's 750 pilots will hit
key long-haul routes, including flights to Disney theme parks in
California and Florida as well as destinations in the Caribbean, the
Far East and Australia.

Although strike dates have not been
announced it is likely that a first walk-out would take place in July -
with more to follow over the summer.

But there was better news for passengers
today though, as BA's union Unite balloted several thousand of its
members, recommending acceptance of an agreement thrashed out between
the two sides after 18 months of conflict.

The agreement includes a two-year pay
deal and the return of travel concessions for thousands of staff who
took part in 22 days of strikes last year, which cost BA £150million.

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The deal would give the conciliation
service Acas a role in arbitrating the cases of union members who were
sacked or disciplined during the dispute.

Unite leader Len McCluskey has
described the agreement as a 'victory for common sense', adding that he
hoped for a period of improving industrial relations at the airline.

The two sides were locked in one of the longest disputes in the UK for years after cost-cutting moves taken by the airline.

Time to act: Union leaders have urged Virgin supremo Sir Richard Branson to take action to stop the strike

The dispute spread to other areas
after BA withdrew travel concessions from Unite members who went on
strike, and took disciplinary action against a number of staff.

The pilots, who earn up to £110,000 a
year, are angry at a 4 per cent pay offer after three years of salary
freezes, says the British Airline Pilots' Association.

Some 97 per cent voted for walk-outs in a ballot that saw a 94 per cent turnout.

Sir Richard Branson's airline said it was disappointed but was preparing 'contingency plans' to deal with any walk-out.

Travel industry experts condemned the strike as 'disappointing and frustrating'.

The
opening of a new wave of airline strikes comes as a peace deal looms at
long last in the long-running British Airways dispute.

A ballot of 12,000 BA cabin crew over the deal with the airline closes at noon today.

Sources said members of the Unite Union and its more militant Bassa branch for air stewards are expected to have listened to their leaders and backed an agreement – removing the threat of a summer of strikes on BA.

Now the Virgin action could cause disruption for passengers who booked with Sir Richard Branson's airline to avoid the prospect of strikes on BA.

No sooner is the BA cabin crew dispute on the brink of being resolved than the Virgin pilots ballot on strike action.'

Grounded? The strike will hit key long-haul family holiday routes around the globe during the school summer holidays

Virgin
is based at Heathrow, but also flies from Gatwick, Manchester and
Glasgow. It handles 6million passengers a year – around 15,200 a day.

It
is the first time that its pilots have voted to strike. The union said
Virgin Atlantic pilot pay ranges from £58,000 to £70,000 for a First
Officer and £110,000 for a Captain.

A
study of average salaries by the Civil Aviation Authority put the top
earners at British Airways (£107,600), followed by Virgin Atlantic
(£89,500), Monarch (£80,100),Thomson Airways (£78,300), Thomas Cook
Airlines (£75,200), Easyjet (£74,100), Jet2.com (£69,900) and bmi
(£58,300).

Balpa chief
Jim McAuslan said: 'There has been no UK pilot strike for 32 years. But
there comes a time when even moderate people say enough.

'With
no pay increase since 2008, a below inflation offer for 2011 and
proposals for 2012 and 2013 that will be sub-inflation this is now a
six-year attack on living standards which has not happened in any other
UK airline.'

He added:
'We do not want to inconvenience the public and hope that Sir Richard
will use some of his undoubted flair to settle this.'

A spokesman for the airline said its pay offer was 'industry leading' and 'double the national average for a UK business'.

He
added: 'We are naturally disappointed with the result of the ballot but
remain committed to further talks with our pilots’ representatives to
find a solution.'